When to Rob A Bank

And 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-intended Rants

A curated collection from the most readable economics blog in the universe. Over the past decade, Levitt and Dubner freely admit that most of their posts were rubbish. But now they've gone through and picked the best of the best. You'll discover what people lie about, and why; the best way to cut gun deaths; why it might be time for a sex tax; and, yes, when to rob a bank. (Short answer: never; the ROI is terrible.)

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Following the success of Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner started an online blog where they began to post short essays, news and musings in a similar vein, exploring the odd and compelling world of economics. These brief, bite-sized articles were an enjoyable recreational read, though I'm finding that I'm not a huge fan of the blog-to-book format. Current readers of the blog may not find anything new here, but if you're new to the world of Freakonomics this could be both entertaining and educational.

Easy read of the top blog posts of the Freakonomics blog. A ton of interesting ideas are presented, some comedic and others touching on issues like gun control and health care. Would have liked to have seen some, if not most, of the ideas explored more in detail but hopefully they're saving that for a future book.

An interesting collection of blogs. I skipped many of them but there were a few that were interesting and useful such as how the internet changed car buying and the new car mating dance. Worth reading if you are shopping around for a car.

They're really cashing in with this book, a reprint of their best blog posts. That said, it was a light and entertaining read, and provided a good overview of the range of topics they have examined through the lens of an economist.